Terex cranes take up 200t bridge challenge

August 2014

WHEN faced with the challenge of lifting a 200-tonne bridge girder beam for a bridge span in a major highway expansion project in Kuwait’s capital city, the contractor turned to the expertise of leading heavy lift specialist Integrated Logistics and its fleet of Terex cranes.

The project in Kuwait City comprises a number of bridge spans and interchanges with intersecting roads. While it is designed to ease congestion, this new roadway also expands a highway network that will facilitate the growth of interregional and international trade with the other GCC countries.

The bridge’s contractor called on Kuwait-headquartered Integrated Logistics to perform the delicate operation, aware that it would require a tandem lift to install the 200-tonne steel girder beam to support the bridge span, due to the length of the beam.

Integrated Logistics employed two Terex cranes from its fleet that exceeds 2,000 units, which includes mobile cranes. Most of its crane fleet consist of Terex cranes, including the high-capacity CC 8800-1 crawler and AC 1000, AC 700, and AC 500-2 all-terrain models.

“They have the capacity needed to safely install the beam, and they are quickly driven to the jobsite and are very manoeuvrable.”

Manoeuvrability was key for this pick, as both the jobsite and surrounding area were congested.

Both the eight-axle AC 500-2 crane, with its 56-m boom, and the nine-axle AC 1000 crane, with its 50-m boom, were driven from Integrated Logistics’ yard in Kuwait to the project site with the main boom installed. This significantly shortened crane set-up time at the site and saved the company money.

“Our eight-man crew was able to install the counterweight, rig the cranes and have them ready for the lift in one day,” says Al Huwaidi.

The compact design of the two Terex cranes helped Integrated Logistics to quickly manoeuvre the city streets and congested jobsite. All-axle steering of the AC 1000 crane allowed the operator to effortlessly position the 1,200-tonne crane for the lift, he adds.

Twenty flatbed trailers transported 388 tonnes of counterweight plus accessories to the site over a two-day period. To simplify counterweight installation, Terex standardises the weight and shape of these segments, so the same counterweight will work on either the AC 500 or AC 1000 crane.

“Our counterweight design allows the same weights to be used on all our superlift class crawler cranes as well as all-terrain crane models ranging from the AC 350 to the AC 1000,” says Christian Kassner, senior manager sales and customer support for Terex Cranes. “This reduces transportation costs and simplifies counterweight logistics.”

Carrying half the beam load, the AC 1000 crane was rigged with 228 tonnes of counterweight and a 250-tonne hook block. The crew used 25.8 m of main boom length at a 9-m working radius to initially pick up the 4-m-tall by 2-m-wide beam. For installation, the crane lifted the beam to an 8-m height at a 17-m radius. “Even with the weight of the beam at this radius, the AC 1000 crane was at less than 73 per cent of safe working load (SWL),” says Kassner.

The other half of this dynamic crane duo, the 500-tonne capacity AC 500-2 crane began lifting its 102.2-tonne total lift weight using 24 m of main boom at a 7.5-m working radius. Equipped with 160 tonnes of counterweight, the crane easily hoisted the beam into position at a 12.5-m radius, safely operating at less than 82 per cent of SWL, he adds.

The crew successfully installed the 200-tonne bridge girder beam and began their work to de-rig both the AC 1000 and AC 500-2 all-terrain cranes. Within a week of leaving the yard, both cranes were back at Integrated Logistics’ facility and ready for the next project.

“We chose to use mobile cranes for the project, since they are better for a single lift,” says Al Huwaidi. “We chose the Terex cranes because the service is excellent and reliable, and Terex provides strong technical support to our maintenance team.”

The nine-axle Terex AC 1000 is claimed to be the world’s most powerful all-terrain crane that can travel on public roads with its 50-m main boom attached. At 20.3-m long, the AC 1000 is remarkably compact and manoeuvrable for a 1,200-tonne capacity class crane. The crane is available with a 50- or 100-m main boom, which is equipped with an open-nose sheave that is said to make attaching additional boom segments fast and easy.

The ergonomically designed crane cab, which can be tilted up to 20 degrees backwards, is equipped with an integrated IC-1 touchscreen control system, which allows operators to have quick access to important information such as wind speed, wind direction, hook load, rated lifting capacity, reach, boom length, and calculated and actual outrigger loads by simply tapping the screen.

The Terex AC 1000 crane reaches travelling speeds of up to 80 kmph.

Meanwhile, the Terex AC 500-2 all-terrain crane, with a carrier just 17.1 m long, is said to be the most compact eight-axle crane in its class. A maximum working height of 145.8 m can be achieved with a luffing fly jib. The crane offers enormous power across the full lifting capacity range, through features such as the improved design of the main boom cross-section and the reinforced sideways superlift system. The star-shaped outrigger layout helps to ensure the stability required.

The crane is powered by the latest engine technology, delivering 653 hp at 1,800 rpm.

Terex Cranes claims to be the only manufacturer that provides a full line of cranes, from all-terrains to tower cranes. The company has maintained a strong presence in the Middle East for a long time and remains committed to the region, says Kassner.

“Terex has had the opportunity to build a strong relationship with its customers in the region. These markets were always important for the company and will remain so in the future. For us, the overall customer satisfaction from sales to service and parts is most important,” he adds.

Terex Cranes embarked on reorganising its distribution and support structure around geographical regions in early 2013.

He elaborates: “This means that a regional in-charge is responsible for sales and support for all Terex Cranes products in that given region.”

The initiative has also meant that in addition to the point of contact, the terms and conditions and invoicing will also be centralised and harmonised. “It is all about being easy to do business with; it is the company’s goal to be as responsive as we can towards our customers. As a general trend, we see that customers are looking for overall solutions rather than for one special feature. That is true for products as well as support,” he explains.

Kassner says that all Terex Cranes products are developed with customer needs in mind.

“They provide easy transport, short rigging times and good uptime and therefore are built to increase our customers’ return on investment. When it comes to after-sales service, Terex Cranes tries to provide the best customer support possible. Local contacts for sales, technical support, spare parts, maintenance and repair are available 24/7 and try to provide quick solutions to customer requests.”

Terex Cranes has a huge population of CC 2800 and CC 8800 crawler cranes in this region, which are seen as standard/reference cranes for many projects, he says.

In 2012, it launched the Superlift 3800, introducing a worthy successor of the CC 2800 with 650 tonnes lifting capacity and easy transportability and rigging.

He continues: “Always taking into consideration our customers’ needs, we have lately developed the Boom Booster kit for the CC 8800 crawler crane. With this addition, the crane is able to double its capacity, while the kit is easy to transport and to assemble.”

And when it comes to rough terrain cranes, Terex Cranes offers some new products which are described as being a perfect fit for the Middle East markets. These include the Quadstar 1075L and Quadstar 1100, which boast high lifting capacities combined with ruggedness and versatility.

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